


Threads of Reality: Burning Lies

by TheRealAndian



Category: Original Work
Genre: Action/Adventure, Dark, Fantasy, Gen, Novel, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Test chapter, To see what people think, WIP, hello darkness my old friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-25
Updated: 2016-11-25
Packaged: 2018-09-02 01:30:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8646454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRealAndian/pseuds/TheRealAndian
Summary: The land of Ātarla is in turmoil, and young teen Kaetren Sol is right in the middle of it. The Aëlin-Avocri are preparing for war, the Cultists are completely out of control, and to make matters worse, Kaetren’s mentor Iradia has every intention of helping her friend stop the war before it starts.It’s a race against time and enemy forces to stop them. This pair and those they meet along the way must fight to stop Queen Celestia’s schemes before the Empire falls. Otherwise, humanity itself will be eliminated. And in the meantime, Kaetren must uncover the secrets of himself.And hope he doesn’t burn himself in the process.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is the prologue to my WIP novel, _Burning Lies_!  
>  It's been entirely redone since I first posted the original draft, so if you saw it before, it's completely different. If you're interested in the work, you can follow me on [Tumblr](https://mslynnwrites.tumblr.com) to stay updated on how it's going.

I awoke in the middle of the night, the smell of smoke biting my nose. Shrieks of terror rang outside my window.

_What? What’s going on?_

My eight year-old body kicked away the bed covers, leaving them in a tumbled heap on the floor. The floorboards steamed. Something bad was happening. Something very bad.

Deep orange flames greeted me at my door. Heat lashed at my skin. Adrenaline flooded into my bloodstream.

This was bad.

So, so bad.

I pushed through and skirted past fire licking at the walls. _Mama and Papa. Have to find. Have to find them._ If anyone knew what to do, it’d be them, right? So I screamed for them, begging to be heard.

But no one answered, and no one came for me.

The ceiling groaned, no longer able to bear its own weight. Self-preservation finally beat its way into my skull.

I kicked out a window and crawled free, glass shards slicing into my hands and knees. I barely pulled my shivering self away before the house—my _home_ —collapsed in on itself, throwing dust and ash into the air with a thunderous _boom_.

The village burned under a dark night sky, smoke billowing upwards into the stars. Ash coated the ground in a thin layer of black and gray. Silhouettes of my former neighbors writhed in the blaze. Screams of the damned echoed through the trees. The stench of death wreathed around me.

I coughed the smoke from my lungs, hating the way it stung my eyes. Tears streamed down my ash-stained face, dripping onto the earth. How could this have happened? Why? Surely my parents would know.

Surely they’d escaped like I had, right?

A flutter of purple in the wreckage caught my eyes, hot winds whipping it around the wreckage of my home. I gulped back my fear and stumbled to it, ignoring the splintered wood biting my feet. Reaching it, I bent down and yanked it from the debris. The fires may have singed the edges, but I still recognized it.

My father’s scarf.

A shudder ran through me. If he wasn’t wearing it, then where was he? I forced myself to look down, terrified of what I was about to see. Under the smouldering boards stretched a bloodied hand, blackened by the flames. It did not move.

Had I been brave enough, I might have thrown the boards off, uncovering the body attached to that hand. But I wasn’t. All I could do was sink to my knees and stare at it, knowing exactly what I would find if I tried to uncover it.

I sat there for hours, my hollow gaze fixated on that hand. Tears dripped from my chin, accumulating in my lap. Bile rested in my throat, a puddle of it by my side. The smell was awful, but...I couldn’t just leave—I had nowhere to go.

I was alone.

I was alone, with no parents, no home, and no life to look forward to.

The crunch of footsteps sounded behind me, appearing from nowhere. I whipped around, clutching my father’s scarf—holding onto the one thing I had left of my innocent life. Behind me stood a man in a strange sort of robe. His eyes glinted with an ethereal white light, betraying the dark, cold, unfeeling depths of his soul. The bile in my throat tried to emerge; every child in my village had heard of this man, though no one believed in him—they were just stories. Or so I’d thought.

_Overlord._

He regarded me for a moment before pulling out a board with paper attached to it and something that looked a bit like a pencil. He made a few marks before dropping them to his side, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Seems I underestimated infinity,” he chuckled. His voice was oddly distorted, crackling as it pulsated out. I shivered, pulling my legs closer.

He didn’t seem to notice. “Ah well,” he continued. “Was fun while it lasted.” Then he shoved the board and not-pencil back into his coat pockets before pulling another object that looked like a bent pipe. He pointed it at me. “Know what this is, kid?”

I shook my head, another shiver rolling down my spine. I had a feeling I didn’t _want_ to know what it was.

The Overlord grinned. “What a fun little world, this is. Don’t even have guns yet. Too cute.” He pressed down on a lever on in the back, making it click into position before pressing on a button inside the bend.

Something exploded out of the front, burrowing into my chest and throwing me to the ground. Pain flooded my senses. Red liquid seeped from my chest. My mouth filled with the taste of metal.

The man’s grin never wavered. He leaned down, inspecting the wound. “Yup, you’ll be dead in a few minutes.” His hand pressed down on my chest as he pulled himself up, sending a wave of pain and nausea through me. “Of course, that _woman_ will be here, soon, I’m sure.” He stood still for a moment, scrunching his nose. “To bother, or not to bother? That is the question.”

I only coughed.

“Eh. I’ll let ya go easy this time,” he shrugged. “Have fun trying to survive, though. Guarantee it’ll be hell.” Turning, he stepped away, marching off into the ruins of my village. He whistled the whole way, fading out of sight.

The dawn was beautiful. Stars peeked out from behind dark gray clouds that gathered in the north. The rising sun hung like a ripe apple on the horizon, painting the sky pink and red, purple and orange. The pale sliver of the setting moon smiled down on me. Embers crowded the air, leaping towards the sun.

I closed my eyes and waited for the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, even if you've already done it before! Remember that critique is always appreciated!


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